Pitch

Pitch is the quality that allows us to classify a sound as relatively high or low. Pitch is determined by the frequency of sound wave vibrations. However, frequency is a precise scientific unit of measurement, while pitch, although defined by its frequency, also has a subjective component that takes into account the relative placement of the frequency within the context of an established tuning system and in relation to other frequencies.

The variation in high and low pitches of words, phrases and non-verbal vocalisations are constituent ‘notes’ in the ‘music’ of psychoanalysis. Uµ has a narrow pitch range, reminiscent of spiritual, ritualistic or ‘eastern’ music. This repetition can be trance-inducing and may facilitate reverie. A narrowing of range is also suggestive of flow, a characteristic of both Uµ and of psychoanalytic treatment. Ideally, a patient in therapy must feel safe enough to wander about, chancing discovery of new things, but energised enough to wonder, to generate some degree of interest or excitement in their process of self-discovery.

Music is one lens through which early relationships may be observed and understood. The speed, pitch and melody of the mother’s voice as a mesh of early sensations. How might sensory input inform, indeed form, our earliest relationships?
We hear loud noises, we see vivid or dull colours, we feel or sense visceral pressure or movement around us. The infant has no words yet – it is all pre-verbal. Therapy attempts to help people ‘tune in’ to the flow of inner experience. To encourage emotional openness and a curiosity about their own minds.